After almost three years, Nikon has finally decided to retire its popular entry-level Nikon D40 D-SLR. Enter the Nikon D3000, which boasts big upgrades like 10.2-megapixel captures, a 3-inch LCD, and an 11-point autofocus system, all at the budget price of $599.95 (list, with an 18-55mm lens kit). The D3000 features a Guide mode, which offers helpful shooting tips for newbies, and the camera takes solid pictures in well-lit conditions at ISOs below 400. If you'll be doing a lot of low-light shooting, however, you should look elsewhere: Images shot at ISO 800 and above were noisy in my tests.

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The Nikon D3000 looks and feels expensive; its build is similar to the more-expensive ($999 list, body only) Nikon D90, but it's more compact (1.16 pounds) with a smaller grip and fewer buttons. The camera includes an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 3x zoom lens, which is the standard focal length for entry-level SLRs. Like other entry-level D-SLR cameras, such as the Pentax K2000 or Sony Alpha DSLR-A230, the Nikon D3000 uses an APS-C size CCD sensor, while more expensive cameras like the Nikon D5000 use an APS-C size CMOS sensor. CMOS sensors typically yeild better results in terms of noise. The camera's lens mount is a Nikon F bayonet mount, and is compatible with a plethora of lenses from Nikon and third-party manufacturers. The included lens will also work with other Nikon D-SLRs, so you can take it with you if you upgrade to another Nikon in the future.

One of the D3000's best features is its 3-inch LCD, which is large for this class of camera. Both the sub-$600 Pentax K2000 and Sony A230 offer 2.7-inch screens. While 0.3 inch doesn't sound like that significant a size difference, the 3-incher on the D3000 does feel very roomy. There's also an accelerometer that knows when the camera's on its side and flips the image on the display accordingly. Like its competitors, the LCD packs a modest 230,000 dots, less than the 920K (VGA resolution) you'll find on more expensive models. Still, it serves up bright, relatively sharp images. The LCD doesn't support Live View, however, so you can't use it to frame your shots, you'll need to rely on the viewfinder.

The user interface is virtually identical to other Nikon D-SLRs; it's straightforward, well-designed, and simple to navigate. Nikon tailors this model to newbies by adding a Guide mode (accessible from the mode dial), which steps you through a series of screens to help choose the best mode for your particular shooting condition. Sony's A230 also caters to first-timers by including a nifty shooting screen that uses meters to visualize the relationship between the camera's shutter speed and aperture.

If you're used to a pocket camera, the D3000 will feel fast: It can power up, focus and snap off a picture in an average of .95 seconds, more than a full second faster than the speediest point-and-shoot cameras. After that, you can snap 3 frames per second, which is a solid showing. The Pentax K2000 does a little better with 3.5 fps while the Sony A230 can only manage 2.5 fps. You also get a generous 11 autofocus points. (The Sony A230 offers nine, and the Pentax K2000 only offers 5.) With a greater number of autofocus points, the camera can more-accurately guess exactly what you want in focus.

Using Imatest to gauge image quality in the lab, test results from the D3000 were underwhelming. The camera produces its sharpest images at f/11: At ISO 100, 200 and 400 it averaged 1,574, 1,609 and 1,538 lines per picture height respectively. Other f-stops resulted in numbers as low as 1342. This means soft images. To compare, the Sony A230 kicks things up to the 1,700s from ISO 100 to 400. At its sharpest f-stop (f/5) at ISO 100, the $799 Olympus E-P1 was able to capture an average of 1956 lines per picture height resulting in very sharp shots.

Low-light results weren't overly impressive either. To gauge noise, Imatest analyzes the grey patch of an X-Rite Color Checker at each ISO sensitivity. If the grey patch shows less than 1.5 percent noise, it will typically produce an image that isn't visibly noisy. The D3000 was able to keep noise below 1.5 percent from ISO 100-800, so pictures taken at these sensitivities look clean, while at ISO 1600 noise hits 1.7 percentwhich is high.

There's a mini USB port on the side of the camera, but no HDMI port, like you'll find on the Sony A230. So you can't connect the camera to an HDTV for high-definition image playback. Like other D-SLRs in this price range, there's no video capture; shooting is limited to still images with the D3000.

Given its attractive price and newbie-friendly features, the Nikon D3000 isn't a bad choice for a first-D-SLR purchase, since you also get solid low-ISO images and plenty of lens options in the bargain. But the $549.99 (with 18-55mm kit lens) Sony Alpha DSLR-A230 is also worth a look: It's not only user-friendly, but offers better low-light performance, and an HDMI portfor $50 less.

PJ Jacobowitz is PCMag.com's Analyst for Digital Cameras. He has been with PCMag.com since September of 2006 and has appeared on MSNBC, CW11, ABCNY, XM Satellite Radio and CNN Radio as a correspondent for PCMag.com....

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